goody bags!

jb-ski

hi,

i'm interested to know peoples feelings on run /triathlon goodybags.
What do you really want?

i like a good t-shirt (adidas race series,connemarathon, carlingford triathlon e.g.), a nice wicking fabric.
A sports drink is also nice, energy bar maybe, but other than that
i'm not particularly interested in Flyers, Keyrings, Mugs, moisturisers etc.

What is the origin of goodybags anyway??

any ideas?

cfitz

No goody bag, cheaper entry fee.

Stark

I think most of the stuff in goody bags are generally promotional items from the race sponsors.

mloc123

Haven't got a decent goody bag since the raheny 5

HardyEustace

A decent technical t-shirt in a SMALL size. My father and brother-in-law have a wide variety of sporting t-shirts.

Like the mugs.

Thought that the shampoo and conditioner in Kilkee last year was fantastic.

Key rings also nice as well.

Those small pull string bags are always great (Paris marathon had nice ones).

Things you can eat and drink.

Hate getting a goodie bag full of paper.:mad:

Woddle

Last night Dunboyne AC were giving out goody bags. Entry fee was 10 euro and at the end you got a lucozade sport, bannana and nutra grain bar, just what I needed for the trip home as I didn't have dinner so I could race this. I was delighted as the goody bag was a bit unexpected, they also had sandwiches aswell. Thanks for a great race Dunboyne AC.

griffin100

For the love of god no more feckin Cheerios please........

What do you really want?

Depends on the price of entry. For a high price event like Connemara a really good quality t-shirt is expected; for most Tri's you get a cheap cotton t-shirt which are handy for wearing at race starts and throwing away later. An energy bar and drink is also nice.

TriAthy's 'goody' bag was a box of cheerios and a few leaflets:rolleyes:

Haven't got a decent goody bag since the raheny 5

Agree. Nothing like a pack of tayto and a bottle of lucozade after a race:)

Stupid_Private

cfitz wrote: »

No goody bag, cheaper entry fee.

Should the bag not drive the price of the race down though? If everything that's inside is being provided by the sponsors then there should essentially be no charge being pushed onto the participants. The only thing I think that would bring the cost up would be if a technical t-shirt is being provided and not fully covered by the sponsors. The organisers should be making money off the likes of flyer inserts, while energy drinks, bars, etc I'd have imagined would go in for free.

Stark

griffin100 wrote: »

TriAthy's 'goody' bag was a box of cheerios and a few leaflets:rolleyes:

Was very disappointing. Hopefully we're due to get a Tri-athy cycling top in the post though.

griffin100

Was very disappointing. Hopefully we're due to get a Tri-athy cycling top in the post though.

Hopefully this one doesn't dissapear in the post like may Kilcock one;)

Stark

Oh? Have they said anything more on that? Maybe all the tops are from the same supplier who's causing problems.

blind_hurler

griffin100 wrote: »

For the love of god no more feckin Cheerios please........


Depends on the price of entry. For a high price event like Connemara a really good quality t-shirt is expected; for most Tri's you get a cheap cotton t-shirt which are handy for wearing at race starts and throwing away later. An energy bar and drink is also nice.

TriAthy's 'goody' bag was a box of cheerios and a few leaflets:rolleyes:


Agree. Nothing like a pack of tayto and a bottle of lucozade after a race:)

+1 If the entry fee is small then a bottle of water and a bar is always nice after a run but if you are paying a price then a decent bag with a nice technical top and sure throw
anything else in.. even the Cheerios

robinph

No problem with the flyers being in the bag, it saves you having to deal with quite so many people trying to shove them in your hands at the finish line when your not quite with it. A good techinical t-shirt is always good, the Adidas ones are excellent for the price of doing the race series, I was surpised to get one last weekend though in a race that only cost £12 GBP, would have only been a tenner if BAC was UK registered.

Not interested in the boxes of cereals that keep appearing in them, but a drink and banana and a few other sweets or things to munch on whilst hanging around at the finish is good. I've also found a few mini deodorant things in goody bags recently which have come in handy when flying Ryanair with hand luggage only.

cfitz

Stupid_Private wrote: »

Should the bag not drive the price of the race down though? If everything that's inside is being provided by the sponsors then there should essentially be no charge being pushed onto the participants. The only thing I think that would bring the cost up would be if a technical t-shirt is being provided and not fully covered by the sponsors. The organisers should be making money off the likes of flyer inserts, while energy drinks, bars, etc I'd have imagined would go in for free.

Good point. But I'm not sure it applies to most of the stuff in a goody bag. Kellogs/Nestle/Evian etc wouldn't be sponsoring many races here, so their products are being paid for by someone who would otherwise be investing in the actual event. Even for gimmicks with company names printed on them - how much would a race organiser expect to get from the company to include those products in a goody bag?

shels4ever

I do a good few races that are only €5 with loads of team and cake after, That does the job for me.

donothoponpop

If you're paying a hefty entry fee for a prestige race, then a good tech T is great, with the event logo on it. I *HATE* race T's that cover themselves in advertising logos- Dublin Marathon's got a great long-sleeved tech top, with a nice "Finisher" design, but they cover the back of it with logos of about a dozen sponsors, which just cheapens it. It's a commemorative top for the event, not an advertising space!

plodder

Another option is to do a "Michael O'Leary" on it, and just charge extra for the optional items, like the technical T, the race medal (I really don't need any more Dublin marathon medals), the goody bag even. That would help to keep the price down for people who don't want this stuff.

theFinishLine

shels4ever wrote: »

I do a good few races that are only €5 with loads of team and cake after, That does the job for me.

"team and cake after"? don't tell me that after race they eat one of the slower teams a mug of tea or coffee would be more down my street

RICHIE-RICH

plodder wrote: »

Another option is to do a "Michael O'Leary" on it, and just charge extra for the optional items, like the technical T, the race medal (I really don't need any more Dublin marathon medals), the goody bag even. That would help to keep the price down for people who don't want this stuff.

I agree with this idea, but practially, it may be a huge overhead. How will you determine those finishers who didn't paid for a medal and then want one once they are finished, or those who didn't want a medal when they registered, but do once they are finished?

Perhaps having two levels of entry- one for entry only, and one for entry plus goody bag (with t-shirt, drink bottle, energy gels or whatever).

I think the Amsterdam marathon do something whereby the half marathoner pay the half entry fee of €22, and for €20 extra (or similar) you get the technical t-shirt that the full marathoners get for the full entry fee (around €55).

This isn't practical for some races, but in ones such as the connemarathon, it would be fairly easy to implement, with its multiple events on the same day.

Any organisers with any opnions out there?

Bambaata

i like a good t-shirt and if its a priecy event it needs to be a technical one. I like them to remind me of the actual race. I've loads that i use training and can always do with more.

AJCOT

A technical tee is the zenith but like Woddle said earlier the lucozade sport, banana & bar in Dunboyne last night takes some beating. Did anyone ever get a feedback form in your goodie bag?

Stark

donothoponpop wrote: »

If you're paying a hefty entry fee for a prestige race, then a good tech T is great, with the event logo on it. I *HATE* race T's that cover themselves in advertising logos- Dublin Marathon's got a great long-sleeved tech top, with a nice "Finisher" design, but they cover the back of it with logos of about a dozen sponsors, which just cheapens it. It's a commemorative top for the event, not an advertising space!

Yes this is why I don't wear my Adidas race series t-shirts. I look like a bloody billboard wearing them.

robinph

I don't mind the Adidas ones with the ads on the back actually. If that's what it takes to mean I have a good supply of good new t-shirts for running in then so be it. Just annoyed that I'm missing out on collecting this years set.

RJC

A technical Tee is a must. God the Cork City Marathon one was a disgrace. HTF can you get away with that?

The Novartis 5K has a better Tee than that. Cork to Cobh is better.


I treasure the Tee more than the medal as I don't usually go out running with a medal around my neck. The marathon technical Tee IS the badge of honour. that is the reward for the miles.


In Rotterdam the entry was only about €35 -€50 and the Tee is top quality.

All the rest of the stuff is just 20 cent samples donated by reps.

richiemack

I really didn't need the hair gel down at Joey, good job on the haribos though, none of the tris Ive done since have either given goodie bags, or Ive been too late

hawkwing

Personally i don't like the DCM 08 shirt.I prefer the adidas race series ones and preferably last yrs blue half marathon one followed by the white 5 miler from 2007.This yrs Great Ireland was ok but for the price it should be.

plodder

RICHIE-RICH wrote: »

I agree with this idea, but practially, it may be a huge overhead. How will you determine those finishers who didn't paid for a medal and then want one once they are finished, or those who didn't want a medal when they registered, but do once they are finished?

Perhaps having two levels of entry- one for entry only, and one for entry plus goody bag (with t-shirt, drink bottle, energy gels or whatever).

You could do something with the race numbers. Odd numbers for the cheap-skates (like me) who don't want the extras, and even numbers for the others. Or you could print something extra on the race numbers. I agree it would be a hassle though.

What I've found the most frustrating thing about the technical T-shirts, is I never get the right size.

griffin100

Oh? Have they said anything more on that? Maybe all the tops are from the same supplier who's causing problems.

Athy said supplier problems were the issue.
Kilcock said the jerseys were stuck in Pakistan. Mine was posted about two weeks ago I have been told but no sign of it yet.

mloc123

griffin100 wrote: »

Athy said supplier problems were the issue.
Kilcock said the jerseys were stuck in Pakistan. Mine was posted about two weeks ago I have been told but no sign of it yet.

Still waiting on mine too.. better have the Skerries one on Sunday.

flo8s967qjh0nd

I always thought a decent wrist/sweat band would be a nice cheap, but useful item to get in one of those bags.
Never seen them though. Perfect for merchandising, I would have thought!

donothoponpop

robinph wrote: »

I don't mind the Adidas ones with the ads on the back actually. If that's what it takes to mean I have a good supply of good new t-shirts for running in then so be it.

But the entry fee is high enough to cover a commemorative tee? You should learn to fight the power, advertising is an insipid monster that is luring sonambulators into uniform logoland. Being forced to wear advertising all over a finishers shirt, when I went through the pain of suffering 26 miles, is the greatest injustice. Ever.;)

RJC wrote: »

In Rotterdam the entry was only about €35 -€50 and the Tee is top quality.

€32 entry for a great T, with a discreet logo of the main sponsor, and the apparel sponsor. Them Dutch lads know how to do things right.:D

Krusty_Clown

In one of the Adidas race series events last year one of my friends got a jar of mustard in his goodie bag. It was three months out of date. wtf?!
Just what you need after a good race!

Peckham

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

In one of the Adidas race series events last year one of my friends got a jar of mustard in his goodie bag.

That's made an appearance at a few of the adidas series races...must be one of the bizarrest things ever to appear in a goodie bag! At least most other things (t-shirt, water, chocolate, deodorant, shampoo) have some link with running. Unless I'm missing something, there is no link between running and mustard!

ecoli

Peckham wrote: »

That's made an appearance at a few of the adidas series races...must be one of the bizarrest things ever to appear in a goodie bag! At least most other things (t-shirt, water, chocolate, deodorant, shampoo) have some link with running. Unless I'm missing something, there is no link between running and mustard!

Or maybe mustard has secret nutritional benefits we havent been made aware of just yet?:P

Stark

Could ask in the Mustard forum, they might know (http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=457)

ss43

Vaseline all the way. I like to celebrate in style.

Krusty_Clown

ecoli wrote: »

Or maybe mustard has secret nutritional benefits we havent been made aware of just yet?:P

Out of date mustard? Maybe it ferments after its sell-by date, into some form of anabolic steroid?

Stupid_Private

Stark wrote: »

Could ask in the Mustard forum, they might know (http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=457)

Bah! How the Fck is there a mustard forum?!

limerickleader

Worst goody bag and worst race tshirt award so far for '09 must surely go to the Cupids Dash in the Phoenix Park...chocful of paper and quite possibly the worst t-shirt to have ever seen the light of day. Red, with white love hearts on the front, while on the back were the addresses of maybe 8 different lonely hearts/dating sites...needless to say, all the t-shirt was used for was to clean my spikes...

Stupid_Private

limerickleader wrote: »

Worst goody bag and worst race tshirt award so far for '09 must surely go to the Cupids Dash in the Phoenix Park...chocful of paper and quite possibly the worst t-shirt to have ever seen the light of day. Red, with white love hearts on the front, while on the back were the addresses of maybe 8 different lonely hearts/dating sites...needless to say, all the t-shirt was used for was to clean my spikes...

From what I recall there was a fancy water, some healthy biscuit bar thing or other and a box of porridge at that race. Thumbs up from me. Once I can eat or drink what I'm given I'm happy.

RJC

I don't mind the advertising. My dream tee shirt would say something like: I am dead hard and I ran a killer marathon in _____.

Or something that would let all the 5k heroes know that I'm only holding back to make them look good

limerickleader

Stupid_Private wrote: »

From what I recall there was a fancy water, some healthy biscuit bar thing or other and a box of porridge at that race. Thumbs up from me. Once I can eat or drink what I'm given I'm happy.

You're right...there was free porridge at the end. Apologies - my memory is scarred by the thoughts of that t-shirt

Stupid_Private

limerickleader wrote: »

You're right...there was free porridge at the end. Apologies - my memory is scarred by the thoughts of that t-shirt

I didn't take the t-shirt. As crap as it was you can't really hold a red t-shirt with hearts on it against them considering they were trying to theme a race. Other things I'll hold against them but not that.

hunnymonster

For anyone who judges a race by their goodie bag, you've got to run the Seville marathon! For a massive €13 entry fee there was a tech teeshirt and shorts, socks, a bath towel, medal and enough food to feed us for about a week.


For local races, I prefer a cheap race with tea afterwards to a goodie bag but for things like ironman, I like the goodie bag, I feel if they are going to charge me €450 to enter, at least I can have something other than dodgy tan lines to show for it.

jeffontour

Only today I noticed that there will be no beer and whiskey in this years Westhighland Way goody bag. In previous years there was a bottle of local beer with your name printed on the label and a wee bottle of whiskey to warm the cockles for all starters.

The recession sucks!

jb-ski

thanks for all the replies. I'd forgotten about the out of date mustard!!! medals for me are just dust-collectors too, however Mrs jb-skihas hers proudly hanging in the wardrobe for motivation, so i guessit's horses for courses. so technical T-shirts with discreet logos seems to be a priorityfor starters. on the Kilcock/Athy late /non delivery of T-shirts, i better make sure Ladytri orders ours in plenty of time for the Lough Key Triathlon

jb-ski

jb-ski wrote: »

thanks for all the replies. I'd forgotten about the out of date mustard!!! medals for me are just dust-collectors too, however Mrs jb-skihas hers proudly hanging in the wardrobe for motivation, so i guessit's horses for courses. so technical T-shirts with discreet logos seems to be a priorityfor starters. on the Kilcock/Athy late /non delivery of T-shirts, i better make sure Ladytri orders ours in plenty of time for the Lough Key Triathlon

sorry about punctuation, don't know what i did!!

merlie

I like the goody bags! They usually contain promotional samples. I am not keen on all the leaflets, I don't mind the coupons but usually the leaflets are bin material. I like the cosmetic samples and drinks.

It is nice to get a goody bag and it is usually an incentive for people to sign up for the marathon or whatever the event may be.

Long live the goody bag!

chinguetti

A bit of food and water in a bag are good idea, loads of paper are not. Good way to get free samples too.

Medals aren't the be all for me but t-shirts are a nice touch if done well. Did the Cork Marathon a couple of weeks ago and the t-shirt was dire. I'm torned between washing it (it will surely fall apart) or binning it. Have yet to get a t-shirt i'ld wear heading to the shops to buy a pint of mile.

theFinishLine

This is an interesting debate on the various aspects of entry-fee vrs t-shirt-vrs goody bag. From my opinion you need to look into the entry-fee a bit further before the goody bag and t-shirt is analysed. In many cases the entry-fee is a fund-raiser for the local club that is hosting the event. They simply don't get the numbers for entry to have a decent t-shirt and goody bag. As someone who has been involved in the organisation of several 5KM and 10KM races around Ireland it is rather difficult to get "local sponsors" to donate a pallet load of water, lucozade, bananas, whatever to the goody bag. And that was in the good times - now that the big "R" is hitting every business this is getting even harder.

In regard to the marathons/half marathons and their entry fee - I have been unfortunate enough to have not finish a couple of marathons and an ultra and have wound up in hospital/medical tent on race day. So the 50 euro or 70 euro entry fee is small fry given the top-notch-treatment I recieved on every occasion. If I had to visit my doctor then go to the hospital etc... it would be more than my race entry ... I know the economics of it - every runner is paying a lump towards this and only a tiny percentage of runners actually end up needing these services - well no runner wants to be visiting the medics on a marathon day So my attitude is - the race organisers are trying to make a few quid, there is money needed for the organisation/hire of equipment/buses if needed, etc and then the medics/doctors/etc. If we are able to afford to entry the races lets do so - isn't 100 euro a small price to pay given the endless lifetimes of happy memories a marathon brings.

RJC

Some good points but some of the best goodie bags and Tees come from small entry fee events - Cork to Cobh - €15-€20 witha decent Tee and bag. Don't forget, St. John's Ambulance/Red Cross are not for profit, Gardai are free as well and most races have voulenteers. For some point to point events buses are a cost but look at Ballycotton - €12 for a decent race with car parking and shuttle buses and a mug, water a banana and a mars bar for every finisher.

Some events are run by public authorities (Cork City Marathon) and trasparecy of the costs would be helpful so the pie of costs would be visible.